Lovis Corinth’s Black Othello from 1884 was probably the artist’s first success, and was exhibited to acclaim in Königsberg. Lovis Corinth (1858–1925), Black Othello (1884), oil on canvas, 78 × 58.5 cm, Private collection. Aldridge toured Europe playing Othello, and other leads including King Lear and Macbeth. William Mulready’s portrait of Ira Aldridge, painted at some time between 1840-63, shows the first black actor, who lived between about 1805-1867, in this role. William Mulready (1786–1863), Ira Aldridge, Possibly in the Role of Othello (1840-63), oil on panel, 40.5 x 29.9 cm, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD. When the play opens, Iago is angry that Cassio has been made Othello’s lieutenant, a post that he thinks he should hold, and Desdemona’s father, a Venetian senator, is enraged that his daughter has eloped with Othello.

This play is set in the midst of the war between Venice and the Ottoman Empire between 1570-73, and centres on three characters: Othello, a Moor and Venetian general, Desdemona, his young, beautiful and wealthy Venetian wife, and Iago, Othello’s malevolent passed-over ensign. With its strongly visual climax, it should have proved ideal for major narrative painters, but its themes may have been a little too challenging for most patrons. In the late eighteenth century, Othello became equally popular in painting, although many artists confined themselves to portraits of those playing lead roles without narrative context. Its sustained popularity made it one of the first productions in which a professional actress played a lead, and in 1826 it provided the first major lead for a black actor. It was most probably written in 1603-04, and is based on the plot of an Italian story first published in 1565. Jealousy, adultery, treachery and race are the dark themes in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.

Othello written by shakespeare